Bhubaneswar, Nov 2: The President of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, has announced the appointment of two senior party leaders as district observers for Kendrapada and Bhadrak.

Pratap Jena has been designated as the observer for Kendrapada, while Sanjay Kumar Das Burma will take on the role of observer for Bhadrak. This move comes as part of Naveen Patnaik's strategy to prepare for the 2024 elections by establishing a team of district observers in March of this year. Initially, Pramilla Mallik was appointed as the observer for Kendrapada, but her election as Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly in September resulted in the vacancy of that position, as she could no longer engage in party activities.

It's worth noting that Pratap Jena, a former Law and Panchayati Raj Minister, was excluded from Naveen Patnaik's cabinet last year amidst opposition pressure regarding the murder of septuagenarian BJP leader Kulamani Baral, the former chairman of the Mahanga Panchayat Samiti.

Similarly, Sanjay Das Burma, who had been appointed as the Deputy Chairperson of the State Planning Board (a cabinet rank position) after losing in the 2019 assembly election, faced removal in the same month of 2022. At that time, it was speculated that he might be assigned an organizational role within the party.

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